


despair!

by dis_cat_ded



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: :))), Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, LGBTQ Themes, Relationship Problems, also ignore the last two relationship tags :), and daruk is yunobos dad, link has a pet dog, oh and hilda, penelope scott is a vibe for this, teba is revalis dad, the main ship is het but literally nobody except daruk is actually straight, urbosa is rijus older sister (i think), urbosa knows zelda but mostly hangs out with link and the other champions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28655643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dis_cat_ded/pseuds/dis_cat_ded
Summary: Zelda has had some... relationship troubles in the past, to put it lightly. She just broke up with her most recent boyfriend, and isn't really looking for something new at the moment. So when she starts frequenting a cafe that just so happens to be the favorite place of a cute boy her age, what is she supposed to do?Link is lonely. Sure, he has plenty of friends, and yeah, they're great, but it still feels like there's something missing. So when a cute girl starts coming to his favorite cafe, what is he supposed to do?~+~title is based off the song despair by leo. it's too perfect, i couldn't resist.fair warning, updates will be very slow
Relationships: Link & Mipha & Revali (Legend of Zelda), Link/Midna (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Mipha/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

Zelda woke up to what was possibly the worst text you could ever get. Even just hearing about someone else getting the text hurt. She never really thought that someone would be enough of an asshole to do that to her, but here she was, staring at her phone in shock. 

-

_ sweetheart <3, 3 am _

Our relationship has been feeling a bit stale lately, don’t you think?

And we’ve been arguing a lot

I’m really sorry to do this over text, but I’m thinking i want to break up

_ Zelda, 12:05 pm _

is this a joke

_ sweetheart <3, 12:06 pm _

No

Sorry again

_ Zelda, 12:06 pm today _

if u were “really sorry” u wouldnt break up with me over text <3

_ sweetheart <3, 12:07 pm _

Zellie please

_ Zelda, 12:07 pm _

dont zellie me

good riddance

I was starting to hate u anyway <3

_ sweetheart <3, 12:08 pm _

…

Sorry

_ Zelda, 12:08 pm _

bye <3

-

She shut her phone off and put it down on the bed next to her, rubbing the tears from her eyes. She would not cry about this. She hadn’t really liked Vaati much, so this didn’t bother her too much. It didn’t, honestly. Not at all. It was to be expected from a guy like him, anyway, so there was no reason to be surprised.

It didn’t mean that she wasn’t pissed about him breaking up with her over text, and in the middle of the night, no less.  _ 3am. _ Goddesses, what an asshole.

At least they hadn’t been dating for very long, just a few months. She had been broken up with in her last  _ real _ relationship after they had been dating for five and a half years. So this didn’t hurt as much. She still had to text her friends about it, though. She wanted to complain about this to someone. Hopefully they wouldn’t find it annoying.

-

_ Zelda, 12:13 pm _

I just woke up and guess what vaati texted me at 3 in the morning

_ Lana, 12:13 pm _

oh no, what was it?

_ Hilda, 12:13 pm _

👀

_ Zelda, 12:14 pm _

fucking 

he fucking broke up with me

over text

_ Midna, 12:14 pm _

he fucking didnt

_ Hilda, 12:14 pm _

holy shit are u okay

_ Lana, 12:14 pm _

what an asshole!

_ Zelda, 12:14 pm _

yeah, im alright

he was a dick anyway

_ Midna, 12:14 pm _

I told u he wouldnt be good for u

_ Zelda, 12:14 pm _

I know

hes just.. really cute

_ Hilda, 12:15 pm _

he has a purple emo haircut

_ Lana, 12:15 pm _

hey dyed hair is valid

_ Hilda, 12:15 pm _

yes but not vaati’s

_ Lana, 12:15 pm _

true

but still

_ Zelda, 12:16 pm _

hgfshdfg i love u guys

ur much better than vaati

_ Midna, 12:16 pm _

id be worried if u didnt think that

-

Zelda smiled, brushing her short hair out of her face. 

Hm. She should probably get up and get ready for the day. She didn’t want to, though…

She jumped when her phone buzzed. It seemed her friends were still talking in the group chat.

-

_ Midna, 12:17 pm _

oh wow i just remembered my high school bf

it was a really weird break up ugh

high school was a time

_ Lana, 12:17 pm _

tell me about it

_ Midna, 12:18 pm _

oh yeah, didn’t ur sister like start a war over some boy

_ Lana, 12:18 pm _

yeah

it was… strange

the funniest thing about it was that she started dating someone else during that, broke up with him, then got back together with him later once the whole situation had kinda blown over

_ Hilda, 12:19 pm _

fdsjfdhk

_ Paya, 12:21 pm _

shoot, im late!

I was busy helping grandmother

im really sorry to hear what happened, Zel!

if youd like, i know a nice cafe we could go to

_ Zelda, 12:21 pm _

that sounds great!

_ Midna, 12:21 pm _

im free to come with you

_ Lana, 12:21 pm _

me too

_ Hilda, 12:21 pm _

I am too!

_ Zelda, 12:22 pm _

thanks, u guys are so sweet

_ Paya, 12:22 pm _

no problem!

_ Zelda, 12:22 pm _

ive just gotta shower, then we can make plans

-

Zelda smiled and pushed her blankets off of her legs and stood up. She stretched, then headed to the bathroom to shower. Once she got out and changed into some clothes, she made plans with her friends.

They decided that Midna would pick Zelda up at her house, then they’d all go to the cafe Paya mentioned.

Once they finished planning, she went to get ready. Almost as soon as she was done, Midna texted her saying that she was here. Zelda hurried out and climbed into Midna’s car, then they were off.

Zelda spent the ride to the cafe, staring out the window, trying to ignore the music Midna was playing. It was difficult to ignore, since it was so loud, but she managed it. Somehow.

About halfway through the ride, Midna turned the music down.

“You good?”

Zelda looked up at Midna, who was sitting with one foot up on the seat. That was an interesting way to sit. “Hm?”

“You good? You seem pretty down. I mean, that’s understandable, but still. You said yourself that he’s a dick.”

“Yeah...”

“Tell you what. We can stop at a coffee place, and I’ll get you your favorite.”

She shrugged. “Nah. I’d rather wait to get something until we’re at the cafe.”

“Oh. Makes sense. I wonder what they have. Ooh, d’ya think they have donuts?“

She shrugged a second time.

A few minutes later, they stopped at the cafe. They hopped out of the car and went inside, where everyone else was waiting. 

Paya waved. “Hi!”

“Hey,” Midna said, returning the greeting. “Does this place have donuts? I suddenly really want a donut.”

“Uh, I think so, yeah.”

“Sick.”

After greetings and a short conversation, they ordered their food and chose a spot to sit. 

"So, if you guys are free tonight, I was thinking we could have a girl's night together," Hilda said.

Lana grinned. "That sounds great!"

Midna nodded. "I don't have anything planned."

Paya thought for a moment, then smiled. "I might be able to convince Grandmother to let me go."

They then all looked to Zelda. "What about you?" Midna asked.

"Well… I did have something planned… but those plans are out the window, since I don't have a boyfriend to go on dates with anymore."

"Great! Well, not the boyfriend part, but-"

She chuckled. “No, it’s fine.”

~+~

“So, like-” Midna paused and took a sip of her drink- “I was thinking we could go to that nice bar. What’s it called? The Noble… uh...”

“Canteen,” Hilda supplied.

Midna pointed at Hilda, grinning. “Yeah! That! They have nice drinks, right?”

Hilda nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been there a few times.”

“Ooh, what’s it like?”

Zelda sighed, not really paying attention to the conversation. She didn’t really care where they went, as long as they had a good time. She lifted her cup to her mouth and drank, looking around the cafe. It was a nice place. Maybe she should come here again some other time.

Two people left the building, and another person entered. Even if this place was nice, that didn’t mean she didn’t want to leave and curl up in her bed. Just because she wasn’t dating Vaati for very long didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt by this.

Hmph. She never seemed to get good luck when it came to love.

~+~

Zelda woke up with a headache at 2 in the afternoon. She laid in her bed for a while before finally getting up to go grab a drink of water. She wasn’t sure if she was hungover or what, since she hadn’t really had  _ that  _ much to drink the night before.

Okay, maybe it had been a bit more than she had originally intended. But she just really wanted to get Vaati off her mind, and that worked. Temporarily.

Once she got a big glass of ice water, she went out to the living room and sat on the couch. She turned the tv on and went straight to Netflix. She found a show she liked and sat back, barely paying attention as an episode she had watched a billion times played. 

She decided she’d get nothing productive done today. Maybe tomorrow she could actually finish something for once.

~+~

Zelda sat at her desk, leaning over a sketchbook. She sat back for a moment, looking at it, then picked up her phone. She found her earbuds, put them in, then chose some music. She set her phone back down and continued working. Or, trying to.

Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up again. After staring at it for a while, not really reading what was on the screen, she sighed and stood up.

She wasn’t really getting anything done. Just random doodles. She started walking out of her room, but paused in front of the mirror. She took a quick look at her outfit, then shrugged. This was fine for a quick trip to a cafe.

She went outside, got in her car, and drove to the cafe they had gone to the day before yesterday. It was quite nice, and it seemed like a great place to unwind a little. Maybe even get her mind off why she felt so terrible about this whole break-up situation.

It sure wasn’t Vaati. No, she hated him and was glad he was gone. The problem was some... past experiences. Or rather, one in particular. 

She was just getting a little too close to her breaking point.

She shook her head, focusing on the road. Thinking about things like that could get her in a crash, or something.

When she got to the cafe, she just ordered the same thing she had the other day. She was too distracted to really look at the menu. She also didn’t bother looking around the building. Why should she? It wasn’t like there would really be anything important going on.

Her name was called, she went up to the counter and got her coffee, went back to her seat, and just stared at her drink instead of actually drinking any of it.

Someone sat across from her.

She looked up.

It was a boy. He was blonde, and had blue eyes. Pretty, but she wasn’t interested.

“If you’re here to flirt with me, fuck off.”

“Erm-” he glanced across the cafe, presumably at his friend. He had probably been dared to come talk to her or something. “Uh, no. That’s… not why I’m here. Nope.”

She glared at him. “Sounds false. I’m not looking for a date at the moment.”

“Understandable,” he began slowly after a moment. "It was just a dare, anyway. I'm not too interested in anything either."

"Ah. So I was right."

He nodded slowly before giving her a small smile. "You are cute, though. I hope you find someone good, when you're ready."

He stood up and walked away.

Zelda sighed. She hoped, too, but it wasn't likely. She'd probably just find another shitty person to fill that hole in her heart only for it to get shattered again when he decided she wasn't good enough for him.

She'd been doing that for what, a year now? Maybe a year and a half. And she  _ still  _ wasn't over… her.

She took a tired sip of her coffee and sighed.

Hylia, this was really good. Almost distracted her from her thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zelda has a very mediocre day, and link talks to his friends.

She came back to that cafe a lot after that. She saw that boy there a lot, too. They never really talked, though.

She was beginning to love this cafe. It was cozy and felt like home. It wasn’t overly busy, but it definitely wasn’t empty, either. Everything here tasted too good for it to not be relatively well-known, but it was out of the way enough that people only found it by accident or through a friend.

It was also a wonderful place to do work. So, one day, Zelda decided to bring her laptop along with her. She ordered a drink and nothing more, then found the perfect spot to get started. 

That boy came in not long after she sat down, but she didn’t really care much. It wasn’t like she was going to talk to him or anything.

Despite only ordering one thing, that one thing being her drink, she received a piece of coffee cake as well.

“Erm, I didn’t order this?”

The Rito barista shrugged. “Some guy came up and got this for you.”

Zelda glanced back at the boy, who smiled at her. She had to admit, it was quite adorable.

…

Goddess-dammit.

She was  _ not _ doing this again. She frowned and turned back to the counter. “Sorry, but I’ll just take the coffee. Tell him I said thanks, but no thanks.”

“Alright. Have a wonderful day,” the barista said, sounding bored and mildly disappointed.

She nodded, smiling. “Thank you. You have a great day too.”

She took her coffee and made her way back to her seat, where she continued working

~+~

“So? Did she like it?”

Revali shook his head. “No. She said to tell you ‘thanks but no thanks.’”

Link deflated. “Oh.”

“Didn’t she already say she wasn’t interested?”

“Yeah, but-”

“You probably shouldn’t keep pestering her, then,” Revali interrupted. “She might start to hate you.”

Link groaned, turning around to lean back on the counter and look at Revali upside down. “She told me to fuck off the very first time we talked. I think she already hates me.”

“Don’t lean on the counter like that.”

Link smiled and stood up straight. “Fine, I’ll stop.”

He then promptly pushed himself up onto the counter.

Revali crossed his arms. “I’ll have to kick you out again if you keep doing that.”

Link sighed and hopped down. “Sheesh, why are you such a downer all the time? Can I not have fun?”

“I never said that.” Revali paused, then added, “You should probably leave before you start making a line.”

Link threw his hands up defensively, grinning. “Alright, alright! I’ll leave you alone if you hate me so much!”

“I never said that either!”

~+~

Zelda lay awake in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She had a ton of work to do, but she couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed. It was as if something was pushing her down, preventing her from even sitting up. 

She sighed, already knowing that this was going to be another bad day. One of those days where she just sat around doing nothing but feel sorry for herself. One of those days where she thought about her ex and convinced herself that maybe, just maybe, if she had been a little better, they would have stayed together. 

And maybe that was true. Maybe she just hadn’t tried hard enough. Maybe she had driven that perfect girl away, just by being the mistake she was. 

It made sense. After all, who would want to date her? Who would want to date such a worthless excuse for a Hylian? 

Maybe it was for the better that they had broken up. Zelda wouldn’t have been able to live with the possibility that she had made her girlfriend’s life worse just by being there.

She hadn’t truly loved anyone since. She had gotten herself into countless shitty relationships since then, the longest only lasting around ten months. The shortest had been a week. Those two also happened to be the worst. The longer one had been with a tall red-haired man that, to be honest, had treated her like shit. Not to say that the rest didn’t, but this one had been particularly bad. The shorter one had been with some weirdo with white hair and bangs covering half his face. That week was the weirdest and most unbearable week she had ever experienced.

Her phone buzzed, jerking her out of her thoughts. Thank Hylia, she wasn’t sure if she could take another minute of herself.

She lazily reached over and grabbed her phone. She tried to unlock it several times before finally succeeding. She took a moment to look at all her notifications and groaned. Fucking hell, she wouldn’t be able to look at all these on a day like this.

Instead of dealing with those, she tapped on the message from Midna.

-

_ Midna, 10:12 am _

hey

u up

_ Midna, 10:47 am _

im gonna take that as a no

_ Midna, 10:54 am _

u alright?

_ Zelda, 10:56 am _

no

_ Midna, 10:56 am _

bad day?

_ Zelda, 10:57 am _

yep :/

_ Midna, 10:57 am _

I guess ur not up for anything today then, huh

_ Zelda, 10:58 am _

nope 

_ Midna, 11:00 am _

ill be over with some gerudo food soon

_ Zelda, 11:02 am _

thanks

_ Midna, 11:02 am _

np 

-

Zelda smiled a little. Midna always knew how to cheer her up.

Not that a little bit of food would bring her completely out of her bad mood, but the intent behind it sure helped.

She shoved herself out of bed, not without some difficulty. She sleepily stumbled to the bathroom connected to her bedroom and stared into the mirror. After a good three minutes, she shook her head, deciding to not bother with her hair. She didn’t feel like doing her usual braids.

She went back into her room and walked over to the closet. She stared at her clothes, then sighed, opting to not change out of her pajamas. Anyway, they were comfy, and her favorite pajamas. A button up top and pants, both covered in the little symbols of Nayru.

Before Zelda could do much else, her phone buzzed. She picked it up and saw that Midna had texted her, saying that she was outside. Zelda quickly texted back that she’d be down soon, and left her apartment. She didn’t care that she was in her pajamas. Nobody did, really.

Soon, she and Midna were back in Zelda’s apartment, sitting on her couch.

“I see you’ve gone for the I-just-woke-up look today,” Midna said as she handed Zelda a box of food.

“Yeah. I was too tired.”

Midna chuckled. “I can see that.“

“Is it that obvious?”

“Did you even sleep last night?”

“Yes!” Zelda cried indignantly.

Midna smirked. “Don’t lie to me.”

Zelda groaned. “Fine, I did stay up late, but-”

“How late.”

She sighed. “One...”

“In the morning?”

“What other one would i be able to wake up at? It’s not even 12 yet.”

“Oh yeah, you’re right,” Midna said, lifting a hand to her chin. “That’s a lot earlier than you usually wake up on days like this. Like, a lot.”

Zelda groaned. “Don’t rub it in.”

She took a big bite of her food, rendering her unable to reply to anything else. Midna smiled and did the same.

After a bit, Zelda said, “I’ve been going to that cafe we went to a while back a lot lately.”

Midna looked up from her plate. “Oh?”

“Yeah. It’s really nice.”

A moment later, she spoke again. “Some guy tried to buy me coffee cake.”

“Did you take it?”

“No. He was clearly flirting, and I’m not interested right now.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to turn down a perfectly good coffee cake!”

Zelda shrugged. “Yeah, whatever.” 

She paused, then added, “He was cute, though.”

Midna leaned over. “Really? What did he look like?”

“Uh, blonde-”

“Oh, sheesh. Blondes are never a good sign-”

“I’m blonde.”

Midna broke off, frowning. After a moment that mostly consisted of the two staring at each other, she laughed. “Have you  _ seen _ your romantic history?”

“Yeah, I’m the one who had to deal with it.”

She snorted. “Yeah, and we had to deal with you. Don’t think you were the only one affected.”

Zelda just looked at Midna. So, she  _ was  _ annoying. Of course. She had been afraid of that for a good while now, especially after she realized she was ranting a lot to her friends about her relationships.

There was a very long, very uncomfortable silence.   
Finally, Midna tilted her head and gently asked, “Zel? You alright?”

Zelda quickly nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I’m good.”

“Really? You seem distracted. Was it something I said?”

Despite wanting to ask Midna if she really thought she was obnoxious, Zelda lied and shook her head. “No, it’s just… one of those days.”

Midna laughed, straightening up. “I get it. Hey, I came over for a reason. Now, why don’t we watch some tv? There’s a show I’ve been meaning to check out.

Zelda did her best to smile. “Yeah, sounds good.”

\---

_ Link, 2:16 pm _

hhhhhh

_ fishsticks 1, 2:16 pm _

what’s wrong?

_ Link, 2:17 pm _

nothing

_ bitchboy :), 2:17 pm _

its gotta be something if youre doing that in the groupchat

_ fishsticks 2, 2:17 pm _

you can talk to us!!

_ Link, 2:18 pm _

im just annoyed is all

_ fishsticks 1, 2:18 pm _

oh no D:

what about?

_ Link, 2:18 pm _

just the usual, yknow

classwork and stuff

_ [insert seal pun here], 2:18 pm _

and midna

_ Link, 2:19 pm _

:/

ur right but u didnt have to just go out and say it like that

_ [insert seal pun here], 2:19 pm _

:)

_ Link 2:19 pm _

URBOSA COME GET UR IDIOT

_ Mother of Thunder!! I bow down to u, 2:20 pm _

Goddesses what is it this time

And what the hell is my name?

_ Link, 2:20 pm _

oh yeah

i forget what exactly the context was but it was funny

trust me

anyway! 

riju is being mean :(

_ Mother of Thunder!! I bow down to u, 2:21 pm _

From what I can tell, she was simply stating the truth

_ Link, 2:21 pm _

>:(

_ [insert seal pun here], 2:21 pm _

>:D

_ Link, 2:23 pm _

anyway 

kinda weird to bring this up after riju mention midna

but!

I need some advice

_ bitchboy :), 2:23 pm _

fucking hell, not this again

_ Link, 2:23 pm _

stfu revali i cant trust u for relationship advice

_ bitchboy :), 2:23 pm _

ive never been so insulted in my entire life

_ Link, 2:24 pm _

:)

anyway i wanted to ask if anyone could give me advice on asking a girl out!

shes turned me down already but,,

_ [insert seal pun here], 2:24 pm _

if u want to have any chance with her dont bother her anymore

_ Link, 2:24 pm _

yeah thats what rev told me

but yeah ill do that

even tho she already hates me :/

_ [insert seal pun here], 2:25 pm _

lmao why does she hate u

_ Link, 2:25 pm _

idk she just does

_ bitchboy :), 2:25 pm _

i sympathize with her

_ Link, 2:25 pm _

i hate u too rev <3

_ bitchboy :), 2:26 pm _

glad to see we can agree on something

_ fishsticks 1, 2:27 pm _

you two boys are funny

\---

Link sighed. Why did he always get stuck on things like this? Like, things that involved emotion and other people. He wasn’t good at that, and every time an interaction went wrong he berated himself for it for ages. And this interaction had gone terribly wrong. He just wanted someone to actually, like,  _ like _ him. Sure, his friends liked him, and he had a lot of them, but he was only really  _ close _ with Mipha, and maybe Revali. 

He really just wanted someone he could hold close. Maybe he should just try harder next time. And if that girl decided she did like him, he’d let her come to him on her own. They already started off on the wrong foot, and he didn’t want to worsen their relationship by bothering her. He’d rather have an acquaintance than an enemy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! gonna be honest here, this chapter and the last were the only ones i had written. im gonna try to keep a consistent upload schedule, but thats probably not gonna happen. hope you've enjoyed the fic so far!


End file.
